Red Star dims after dispute

The lights have gone out at USF Red Star. On May 23, USF Corp., the carrier's corporate parent, announced that it had shuttered the operating company, saying in a statement that a work stoppage had caused a loss of customers and revenue "to a point where Red Star would never be able to recover from the business losses." "This is a terrible development for our more than 2,000 employees and for the customers who depended on them," said Richard P. DiStasio, USF chairman, president and chief executive officer in a statement.

The closing of Red Star follows the shutdown of other Teamster operations in the Northeast, resulting in the loss of at least $1.5 billion's worth of LTL capacity in that market. Besides Red Star, other casualties in the Northeast include St. Johnsbury, Preston Trucking, A-P-A Transport and Plymouth Rock Transportation, which was acquired by USF Red Star in 2003.